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ATMs and beverage machines
Mary T.

I'm surprised that I never reviewed Enercare Centre. Well, here goes a lot! I held three different summer jobs at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) when I was young and had little work experience. My third job was at the old International Pavilion, which was on the left when you entered the Princess Gates. I worked at a Mexican restaurant as a cashier who sat steps away from the main doors. I'd often be staring at the Human Adventure Area, seeing folks go into a capsule-like ride with cords attached to either side of the capsule. It would launch and head up, and back down. Lots of screams were heard. It played the same music with each ride, which I have blocked out of memory due to trauma. There was a streetcar loop behind the Human Adventure Area for the 511 streetcar. On the other side of it was the CNE farm, Farmers' Market, Shoppers Market, and the Horse Palace. I spent a lot of time at the two markets, which started my budding interest in shopping that hasn't ceased since. Well, the folks who redesigned the CNE relocated the streetcar loop. Its old location is where Enercare Centre currently exists. When this building was brand new, it was called Direct Energy Centre and connected Ricoh Coliseum (now Coca-Cola Coliseum, where the Toronto Marlies hockey team plays) with the other buildings that are now known as the Agricultural Annex. Enercare bought part of Direct Energy, so the name change took place several years ago. In a nutshell, Enercare Centre is a large interconnected exhibition complex. I have mainly been here for various One of a Kind Shows over the years. My attending Marlies hockey games would rank second. I have also attended a couple of Home Shows. Recently, I was here to check out Planted Expo, which was a lot of fun eating and drinking my way through vegan eats and beverages, respectively. There is underground parking. The key is to figure out which exhibition hall your event is at and park closer to that parking lot section. For example, if your event is at exhibition hall D, you want to park in the D section. You would then take the elevator up and you're right there. I learned that the hard way. I parked at A and had to walk the entire hall to get to D, which was where my event was. What was great about that mistake was taking in all the names that were dangling from the ceiling. There's a lot of glass in this complex's design, so it's pretty when the light hits the metal names. There are washrooms near or in each exhibition hall. They are nicely maintained. As far as seating goes, there are places to sit by the windows. I remember shopping so much at one of the One of a Kind Shows that I bought a crepe and sat down eating it by the window. Ah, memories! Recently, I got to the Planted Expo later than I had wanted to, thanks to horrific traffic in the downtown core on a Saturday afternoon. Parking was set at a flat rate of $23. Since I had arrived at 3:30 pm and the expo was over at 5 pm, I got a reduction in my parking rate and paid $18. Sweet! Credit cards are accepted when you park. I slid my card into the machine and was good. I did the same thing exiting. Alternatively, there was a human parking attendant at my most recent visit. You can also pay with cash or credit card with the attendant. Being back here made me reminisce about attending so many One of a Kind Shows over the years. I still support many vendors that I had discovered at them, from The Bean Ladies for chickpea and soy bean snacks, to The Candi Factory that makes comfortable cotton and bamboo underwear for men and women. It was nice returning here. I should come more often than every five years! (137)

Enercare Centre - storefront
Leonard E.

I've been to this place when it was formerly known as the Direct Energy Centre. Now, this exhibition complex is simply called Enercare Centre. Today's visit was for the final day of the CNE on Labour Day. Huge venue, clean, and has full accessibility features.

Jennifer K.

I have been to Enercare Centre for various trade shows, foodie events and during CNE and always have a great experience. Washrooms are clean and plentiful! It seems like something trivial but if you been to a beer festival anywhere, that's the first and most important facilities! Parking is conveniently located just underground. So good during winter as you can leave your winter coat in your vehicles and skip the coat check! The exhibition halls are well set up and booths area all well organized. A pleasure to work here as an exhibitors or as an attendee.

Love the lobby area with all the names hanging
Soleil S.

The Enercare centre has been renamed a few times but what still holds true is that the large space has aged wonderfully and still looks just as amazing the first time I stepped into it years ago. Unlike most event spaces, there's always something lacking ... a/c capacity, bathrooms, parking, ease of transportation, or space. Nope, nope, nope, nope... this place has it all. I usually come here for One of a Kind shows and each time I'm amazed how easy the whole facilities allows for it to occur. Aside from the crazy yoga moms who clog the aisles with strollers, the bathrooms are plenty and clean, I never feel hot even though I'm crammed like a sardine, and there's a lot of parking to never fight over (though you maybe parked in Alaska). The ceiling space is enormous so you never feel over crowded unless you're looking straight ahead into the Flavour section (aka. hordes of people feasting on samples). The only negative things are that the parking is nutty... like $16 for an event. Not great. Especially if it's only an event I know that I'll be there for an hour and the admission is LESS than parking. Ugh. The other slight negativity is the lack of really solid coffee options. Sure there's bottled water or overpriced pop options but would it hurt to bring in the rare awesome Indie coffee to set up shop for a few hours? I guess the answer is 'yes'.

Risa D.

I was here recently for the One Of A Kind Festival and I had an amazing time at the sale, it runs for another 6 days so if you're in Toronto go check it out for sure. They managed to make a tremendously enormous, cavernous, cold space feel almost cosy! The light was dimmed and flattering, the carpets and bar and food trucks and fashion show were all fun and made the space fun to spend time in. I got to help during load in and see the complex operations behind the scenes and it's pretty impressive. Over a dozen loading bays, teams on trucks moving smoothly everywhere, over 800 vendor booths wired for their own power. Pretty awesome.

Jinx J.

Toronto Boat Show. Jan 19-27th. They sure put a lot boats into this place. Boats, jet skis, foldable bikes for boats, parts for your watercrafts. They even filled up the arena with water to paddle boat in. Be prepared for lots of walking and do remover your shoes/boots before boarding the boats that you are allowed to. I spent 3 hours in there. Even managed a vanilla cone ice cream.

Pauline W.

I came here for the Love Art Fair. This event building is lovely, big, bright with high ceiling. Washroom is spacious, clean and large enough for the event. Both TTC streetcar 509 and Go train arrive at the door if you come from Union Station. However, if you drive, parking is not free. It is $14 flat rate ($11 flat rate after 6pm). The phone data receiving signal was pretty weak when I was inside the building. The end corner of the hall was almost like a dead zone. So far, I find it is a nice place to attend an event.

Pretty good, metro.

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13 years ago

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14 years ago

What much more is there to say? It's THE event location for the CNE. Good underground parking for the same rate as outside.

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9 years ago

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11 years ago

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Review Highlights - Enercare Centre

If I were to have a trade show or convention, I would definitely pick the Direct Energy Centre.

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2nd Floor Events

2nd Floor Events

(6 reviews)

Second Floor Events is an event space that is located inside a historical heritage building down an…read morealleyway off King Street West near Spadina. Having an industrial loft atmosphere, this venue is right in the heart of downtown Toronto near the Entertainment district and hustle and bustle of King West. My partner and I had gotten engaged in 2019 where we had signed a contract with Second Floor Events after looking at many other venues in Aug 2019. Our wedding was supposed to happen in Oct 2020, but due to the pandemic, we were forced to postpone where we officially held our wedding reception at Second Floor events in Oct 2021. From the very first meeting with Nicole, the Events Producer, to tour the venue, to meeting our Event Coordinator, Cindy, we knew we were in great hands. When COVID hit, we had decided to postpone our Oct 2020 date to Oct 2021, something Second Floor Events was very accommodating with. We were able to choose a new date to our liking with no extra added costs. Due to pandemic restrictions, it was tough knowing when to start planning for our Oct 2021 as my partner and I eagerly waited to hear more news from the provincial government. Finally, as the pandemic restrictions slowly lifted, we reached out to our event coordinator, Cindy, about 2.5 months before our event was supposed to take place. With a short timeline to pull the whole event together, Cindy was responsive and answered all our questions during the planning process right to the day of the wedding. We were also surprised when we had the tasting how good the food tasted (which was very important!); we were also able to customize/change any aspects of the dishes we tried to our liking and tastes. During the wedding day, Cindy as well as the Second Floor Events staff was able to make sure things were more or less on schedule. Although we had a few hiccups, many guests raved about the food and what a great time they had. The beautiful venue itself added to the atmosphere of the entire night. As stressful as the planning was, we were glad and appreciative of the staff at Second Floor Events and wouldn't have imagined celebrating with our family and friends any other way. Overall, beautiful venue in the heart of downtown Toronto, great tasting food, and great staff to work with and coordinate your next event. Could not have asked for more! Thank you Second Floor Events!!

I officiated Montana & Ryan's wedding ceremony here last night and it was great! The space is very…read morecleverly designed to accommodate a lovely, windowed ceremony space which then transforms and opens up to create a large banquet space. The vibe is rustic and hip with a clean, modern flair. Staff were all super friendly, helpful and professional. Special thanks to Zoe & Clea :) I was able to sample some of the hors d'oeuvres and they were super yummy and unique. Not sure if the venue caters or if it was from an outside source but it was delish! Looking forward to working there again!

The Parkdale Hall - Industrial sounds made us dance!

The Parkdale Hall

(2 reviews)

Parkdale

Went here for the Purple Kiss concert The venue was kind of…read moresmall, there was one common bathroom with about 6 stalls and 1 handicap bathroom. There was definitely way too many people at this concert because it felt like a mosh pit and the AC was barely able to keep up so it was really hot in there. I felt bad for the girl's performing because they were sweating and trying to play it off but also drinking a lot of water.

This venue was a good spot for Long Winter. Sure, there…read morewere better places with rooms to contain different art installations, but the Parkdale Hall had that high ceiling with such an art-deco larger-than-life airiness that other spots can only aspire to. There was a coat-check for $2 on the left as you enter, and next the bar with a couple canned beers available, and then gender-neutral washrooms, which could easily accommodate the crowd assembled that night, with the stage wedged in the opposite corner. For this event, the elevated stage had a translucent screen on it with rear projectors illuminating it, and the entertainers were on the floor below. This worked well and added a dimension of visual art to the performance. The lighting was provided by projectors that shone onto the opposite wall from the bar and helped give the evening art-loving crowd an always-changing exciting mood-enhancing environment. Many of these 100 year-old theaters scattered around the city are threatened by development and condo suckiness, so long live vaulted hand painted ceilings, and art deco theaters repurposed for our delightment and joy, and long-live The Parkdale Hall!

Enercare Centre - stadiumsarenas - Updated May 2026

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